(COMP NOW ENDED) The K101 Needs An Identity, Wants To Be More Than Just A Number

This competition has now ended. The winner will be announced shortly, and part 2 will be kicked off!

Right folks, it’s competition time again. Who’s up for a free K101? Or should I say, which 2 of you are up for a free K101? That’s right, to celebrate the upcoming launch of the new GBA clone, the awesome staff over at www.k1gba.com are going to give 2 of them away!

Interested? Read on for the details.

Right then, the way this comp will work is that it will be divided into 2 parts – one succeeding the other. Part 1 of the competition involves creating a short, catchy name for the device. We already have the model number, but a good name will help to give this new machine a real identity – and it’s up to you guys to come up with it. Part 2 will be all about creating a great looking logo to go with it. The winning name and logo combination will then be sent off to the manufacturer who will not only print it onto the K101 but also incorporate it into the packaging artwork. Pretty cool, huh?

More details of the second half of the competition will be revealed later on – so for now let’s concentrate on part 1. The competition runs from now until Sunday 19th of August, so you only have a few days to get those brain cogs whirring. Here’s an outline of the requirements for this new device’s name.

The name should preferably be 1 word or 2 words long. 3 words may be considered.

The name should try to encapsulate the inspiration behind the K101 project. Think about how projects like these can start the resurgence of a scene, think of words that relate to a new beginning or a fresh start, the combination of new and old, or maybe something that gives a respectful tip of the hat to the original GBA.

Be clever about it, we have enough “Game Box” type devices knocking about already.

Remember to keep it short and sweet, the winning name will be printed in both small and large sizes so it needs to be easily readable.

You can enter as many times as you like.

If you submit a name but somebody borrows part of it, or takes part of it away to create a new name then both are valid entries. Your best bet is to think hard before entering and include as many good suggestions with as many good variations as you can into 1 post.

You’re welcome to post more than once if you have a brainwave later on.

It might help if you imagine that the name will probably be proceeded by the K101 model number. For example, like the Dingoo was mostly commonly referred to as the Dingoo A320, so the K101 might be referred to as the <yourname> K101.

To enter, simply post your ideas into the comments for this post.

You have until Sunday to enter, so get thinking!

The entries will be judged by both the manufacturer and the staff at K1GBA, and the winning name will be announced here on the 19th. Once we have a name we can get cracking with part 2 of the competition, which will incorporate the winning name into a logo. The reason it’s been split like this is simple, the folks at K1GBA didn’t want to exclude people who might not be proficient in Photoshop. By giving away 2 prizes it means that more people can enter, and more people are rewarded for their excellent work!

Good luck!

P.S. If you’re wondering what the hell a K101 is, here it is. Last year the K-Team designed a SoC based around the hardware of the Game Boy Advance. Instead of relying on emulation to run GBA games, it is capable of running them natively. The hardware functions in almost exactly the same way as the original Nintendo hardware did. This means that you get a way higher compatiblity and accuracy rate than you would with any emulator (probably 97-99% with current firmware). The first iteration of the SoC was built into a GBA SP shell by 3rd party manufacturers and was named the K1. You can read the review of my K1 prototype unit here, and you can buy one from www.k1gba.com. The new version is codenamed the K101, it’s built into a new style case and includes some hardware improvements. Most noticably, the unit now has built in RTC, a normal 3.5mm headphone output and can be charged via USB instead of proprietary Nintendo connectors. Check here for pics of K101 prototype units. And while we’re at it, here’s a video published by MaxZhou88 showing a prototype version being assembled and demonstrated.

Just wanted to know at exactly what time the competition ended. I postedmore suggestions yesterday but i guess because of the timezone difference it says i posted it today. Will it still be in consideration or not?

Working from the ‘king’ angle of my last idea I thought about this one:

KHAMUN

It’s kind of out there like “DINGOO” but I think it works. Tutankhamun was the “Boy King” of Egypt and the K101 is the king of the Game Boys. It avoids any nasty trademark issues of associating yourself too closely with the Nintendo brand.

If you’re worried about pronunciations being tricky with the KH then you could just spell it KAMUN or any variation on that. Run with it.

It’s a reference to the evolution inducing item in the Pokemon series. By linking itself to Pokemon it establises its Game Boy roots while reminding us that it is an evolution of the GBA line. It also works a ‘K’ in there for branding.

GameBoy Pro
GameBoyAdvance Pro
GameBoyAdvanced Pro
GBA Pro
Handheld Game System
Handheld Game System (HGS)
Pocket Game System
Pocket Game System (PGS)
Portable Game System
Portable Game System (PGS)
Compact Game System
Compact Game System (CGS)
Compact Wonder System
Compact Wonder System (CWS)
Media Game System
Media Game System (MGS)
GameBoy Pro
GameBoyAdvance Pro
GameBoyAdvanced Pro
GBA Pro

I like “Aori”. It means “a gust of wind” in Japanese. The K101 builds on the legacy left by the Japanese console makers who left us with some beautiful, near-perfect products. And then K-Team takes that and makes it even better. So, we might be looking at that much needed gust of wind to push the market in the right direction with well-thought-out and quality products.

Miracle GS (gaming system) or Miracle for short.
I’ve chosen the name because it really is a miracle to gamers like us, what this little thing can offer. Playing our retro games with brilliant display and higher compatibility than on an emulator, not to mention you can play this on the go too. Truly, this thing is no less than a miracle to us.

I think that “K1 Go” would be a nice name. K1 would obviously refer to the manufacturer, “go” to the way of playing, i.e. on the go. I think keeping it simple is the best option. Thanks for consideration!

I’ll try to write down all the combinations I can think off,
(Macro, Wide, Fat, Phat, Big, Thick, ect; are because the K101 is like an original GBA but wider and bigger, opposite of a GBA Micro)
ok, here it goes:

As I think about it more, I really like the idea of keeping K1 in the title of any of the handhelds based on the K-Team’s work, with the “name” being the primary distinction between models, rather than a model number. So, in addition to the K1 (perhaps re-branded K1 SP?), we could have:
K1 Oxy / Oxy K1
K1 Zaba/ Zaba K1 (Based on a Russian word for Game/Fun)

Stepping away from the handheld’s GBA heritage, you could allude to its primary new feature – keeping time:
K1 Chrono / Chrono K1 (Think Chronometer)
K1 Ora / Ora K1 (Sounds like “Clock” in several languages)
K1 Oro / Oro K1 (The same)
K1 Saga / Saga K1 (Again, sounds like clock in various languages, but also hints at the many iterations of the GBA before the K101)

The two above share the same idea. These refer to GB being able to emulate the first handhelds like Gameboy, Gameboy Color, Gamegear, but also their predacessors like NES, Master System, PC-Engine/TurboGrafx-16, and of course GBA